


Raindrops on Roses

by Myx



Series: Fandot Creativity Night [16]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 06:30:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11915133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myx/pseuds/Myx
Summary: Martin seeks out a job.Written for Fandot creativity night; prompts were pub or flowers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything.

Martin took a deep breath, fixed his tie while looking in the window, and walked into the shop. All around him were different types of flowers; some of them artfully arranged into gorgeous flower arrangements and some of them just sitting in large, plastic vases in what looked like an enlarged wine rack. 

He went up to the counter, where he was greeted by a man, around the same age as Martin, with brown hair and a lovely smile, which seemed like it was just there without the man even thinking about it. 

"Hiya! Are you Martin?" The man asked, holding out a hand.

"Uh, y-yes, actually, I am." Martin reached out his hand, and together he and the man shook hands. The man's hands, while square-ish and clumsy, were warm, soft, and produced a rather strong handshake. "This is-"

"FJN. Yes, you're quite right." An older woman, wearing a colorful apron walked into the shop's main area from the back. "You're Martin, correct?"

"Yes. I am. I'm here about the floral designer job."

"Ah, right. Well, follow me then." The woman lead Martin into an office, and gestured him to sit down in a black chair. In a stern, but quite polite voice, she said, "Right, well, Martin, your application was, well, quite interesting. I noticed that you have attended multiple vocational and training schools, along with doing five apprenticeships in a variety of fields. Why on Earth do you want to work at a floral shop as a floral designer? Your education and your experience tells a much different story, if I'm being perfectly honest with you."  

"If I'm being honest with you Mrs.."

"Ms, please, Martin."

"Ms, right. Sorry. Uh, if I'm being honest with you Ms. Knapp-Shappey, I'm so sick of working mindless jobs. I'm currently a dishwasher in a pub and its just rubbish. There's no way out of it and I'm so sick of being treated like a second class citizen when I'm there. I...I just want to show that I'm more than just an apron and a pair of smelly gloves. That I matter. That what I can create with my two hands can bring joy to people, or give them comfort in times of sadness."

"Well. At least you're honest, Martin." Her face darkened for a minute. "I appreciate that. I would love to bring you on, but I feel like with your experience, you might get frightfully bored."

Martin hung his head and put his hands over his face. He took a deep breath, and said, "Look, I'll be willing to work for  _anything._ If you want me to cut the stems off of the roses, or-or sweep, or coordinate marketing materials, or make teas and coffees. I just need to get out of that pub."

"I..I'll you know, Martin."


	2. Ringing in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Fandot creativity night: prompts was curls or rings.
> 
> Takes place *shortly* thereafter the events from the first chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything.

_Ring, ring._

Martin's eyes flew open at the sound of his mobile chirping. 

_Ring, ring._

"Sod off. I'm coming, I'm coming." He said, padding towards the corner of his flat where he charged his mobile.

"Hello, this is Martin."

"Skip, is that you?"

Martin sighed. "Arthur, yes, its me. Why are you calling me at," He glanced over at his alarm clock, "6am? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Arthur clicked his tongue. "Well, um, I have sort of a hypocri..erhm hypothetical question."

"Yes, what might that be, Arthur?"

"Were you going to cut your hair anytime soon? I know you were talking to mum about it a few days ago, since you have a mate who cuts hair, but I...well, just wanted to know."

"What does it matter to you, Arthur? Its my hair. And this still doesn't answer my question about the whole you calling me at 6am in the morning bit, when we're going to see each other in the shop in a few hours."

"Never mind, Skip. It...doesn't really matter. It isn't terribly important. I'll see you in a few hours, Skip."

"No, wait! Don't hang up the phone, Arthur. We can talk about this later, alright. I guess I didn't think you had such a fascination with my hair and my stupid, nonsensical, and quite unreasonable curls." Martin paused for a moment and continued. "And, why on Earth do you call me Skip? I'm not a captain of well, anything, Arthur. I'm just.."

"Yes you are, Skip!"

"No, I'm not. I've never been the captain of anything. Ever. I've been everything else on the bloody planet, it seems like, but I've certainly NOT been a captain."

Arthur blinked back tears. How could Skip say so many hateful words about himself? It was now or never, he thought. "You're the captain of my heart, Skip. You're like a boat, a strong, sturdy boat who's been through a lot. Your curls, your lovely, brilliant, and bountiful curls are tossed around in the wind like the sails on a boat."

"Arthur, we need to continue this conversation in public. Now. Please, go back to sleep. I'll see you in a few hours."

"But Skip-"

"No, Arthur." Martin sighed, "Please, go back to sleep."

Martin hung up the phone, padded back over to his bed, and sat on it, hands in his face. A few miles away, Arthur was doing the same thing. Needless to say, it was going to be a long couple of hours. 

 


	3. Paranoid Android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place immediately after the events from Ringing in the Night.
> 
> Written for Fandot Creativity Night; prompts were cursing and/or Androids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing.

6:30am

Martin stared at his wall in his flat. Time seemed to be going in slow motion. He really wasn't terribly sure what to think. Arthur had practically professed his love to Martin and had done so in a quite splendid way that was seemingly so atypical of Arthur. Though, the more he thought about it, maybe he really didn't know the real Arthur. The Arthur that was working as the cashier in FJN, the one who made them all alarming apples, and the one who always seemed like nothing ever affected him. But, at the same time, Arthur wasn't an android. He wasn't programmed to always be happy, very excitable, and puppy-like.

Arthur, well, wasn't having the most brilliant of mornings. In fact, this morning seemed downright depressing, which wasn't brilliant. 

"Why did I say that about his curls?" Arthur muttered to himself. "Why couldn't I have just kept it inside of me? And why didn't he say anything? I bet he's an android. No, Arthur, stop it. He isn't an Android. He's your Skip. Well, he's at least *a* Skip, though, not your Skip. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why are you so stupid, Arthur? You've been stupid your entire life. That's why you barely have any friends, all of your  _pony_ girls seem to abandon you after a few months of 'dating,' and why you are sitting here, in your room,  _muttering_ to yourself about the best damned person you've ever met and now you've just cursed. Idiot. You also can't find a proper job because of how stupid you are and while working for mum is fun, and everything, for as long as Martin is working at FJN it is not going to be brilliant to have him remind me of that horribly awkward conversation we had this morning."

7:30am

Martin sprawled out on his bed, wishing desperately for sleep to come so he could at least not have to deal with his thoughts. As much as he loved working at FJN as the lead flower designer and multiple hat wearing man, there was a bit of him that almost regretted doing it. The moment he walked into the shop for the first time and saw Arthur with his smile and his carefree expression, he knew he was going to be in trouble. He just didn't realize how much trouble he was going to be in. He should've just ran away, but working at the pub was getting downright abusive. He mistakenly had came out to someone and within a few hours, the entire staff knew he was a poofter. He thought he could trust them, but evidently not. Every shift thereafter was like a war. He suited up as best as he could, but it ended it a glorious defeat every single time. With Arthur's confession, it caught Martin totally off guard; he wasn't expecting Arthur to come onto him like. If anything, he assumed that Arthur was just into his pony girls. Though, that said, they never seemed to last that long. He is quite handsome, in many respects, too, thought Martin. 

7:45am

Arthur stared into the mirror in the loo of his side of his mum's house. Tired, hazel eyes stared back at him. He was dreading this conversation with Martin, but he knew he had to do it. If it went terribly, then, well.... He rather not think about that. He cleaned his teeth, and padded into his room. "Time to face the music, though I really hope it is cheerful music and not depressing music," Arthur muttered, slipping on his favorite shirt (a dark blue shirt with a birdhouse on it), and a pair of dark denim jeans. "Into battle."

"Arthur, you ready to leave?" 

"Yes, Mum; be down in a minute." Arthur put on his happy facade and went down the stairs to head to the shop.

8:00am

"Right, well, there's some paperwork that needs to be done still, so I'll take care of that. Arthur, you okay holding down the fort until then?"

Arthur smiled, "Sure, Mum. I'll hold down the fort."

Carolyn left and Arthur was, once again, alone with his thoughts. His smile that he had quickly painted on for his mum vanished. 

8:05am

Martin stared at the shop entrance, rehearsing what he was going to say to Arthur. He took a breath, and opened up the door. 

Arthur looked up as Martin walked into the shop. They locked eyes immediately, tired hazel meeting equally tired blue-green. 

"Arthur, I"

"Martin, I"

"Wait, Arthur, please let me go first."

"Fine. Go ahead."

Martin walked closer to Arthur, so he was standing in front of the counter. "Arthur, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurry you off this morning; you didn't deserve it. I...I guess I was just caught off guard. I'm well, not used to praise. I've never been used to praise before. I so hope I didn't hurt you, but if I did, I'm so incredibly sorry for what I did, Arthur. You....you don't deserve it."

"Yes I do, Sk-Martin. I deserve everything that has ever happened to me. I don't want to burden you with it, because, quite honestly I don't want to tell you about it. I will, however, say that what you said earlier today hurt me. It hurt me a lot. I'm certainly used to being rejected, I mean look at me, honestly, but with you, it was like jumping off a cliff while being tied to a polar bear. While both are brilliant in their own right, they're not brilliant at the same time."

Martin snuck a glance at Arthur. "Arthur, do you know why I took this job?"

"No, Mum never told me."

"Well, I also didn't ever tell you mum the real reason why. The reason why is that at my job in the pub, I was being verbally and in some respects, physically abused because of who I am."

"Well, you're Martin, how are you anything or anyone else, besides Martin?"

"No, Arthur, because I'm gay. I worked with a bunch of homophobic people. I don't like telling people that because I just don't like telling people deeply personal things about myself, but seeing as you were so brave this morning and told me something that was extremely personal and private, I had to say this."

"You mean you-"

"Yes, Arthur." Martin smiled and Arthur cracked the first real smile in weeks. 

"Wait, so that means you-" Martin grabbed Arthur's face and kissed him. It started off sloppy, but evolved as the mutual care and love that both parties brought to the table said more than words could ever possibly say.

"I will be more than honored to be your Skip, Arthur."

"Brilliant!"

"And, again, I'm sorry I was like that this morning. I won't cut my hair if you don't want me too."

"No. Never." Arthur ran his hands through Martin's curls. "They're better than brilliant."


End file.
